Queen awards the clean and green
15 Jan 2000
This year's Queen's Awards for environmental achievement honoured a combination of process and more traditional engineering companies. There was a record low number of winners, however only four, from 143 entrants.
Venerable glass manufacturer Pilkington received an award for its 3R clean air process, which reduces NOx emissions from glass melting furnaces; the company claims this is the best available technique to meet the new Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control regulations.
Reducing NOx emissions is also the goal of a new form of combustion chamber for aero engines, which won an award for Rolls-Royce. The system not only cuts pollution, claims the company; it also allows aircraft it is fitted on to carry more passengers. The chamber, fitted to the Trent engines which also won a Queen's Award for technological achievement, can also be retrofitted onto some older engines.
Smaller companies also did well. Energy Technology and Control, based in East Sussex and with only 16 employees, won an award for an automatic system that controls fuel and air input to boilers, which saves money and reduces emissions. And Euro Chemical Control with 44 staff won for the Devex photo processing system, which allows chemicals to be reused.
